Testing apparatus and method for testing analog-to-digital converter

Abstract

The invention provides a testing apparatus. In one embodiment, the testing apparatus receives a plurality of bit signals output by an analog-to-digital converter, and comprises a plurality of frequency counters and a comparison module. The frequency counters respectively calculate a plurality of transition frequencies of the values of the bit signals. The comparison module respectively compares the transition frequencies with a plurality of ideal transition frequencies to obtain a plurality of error frequencies. The performance analysis module estimates a performance value of the analog-to-digital converter according to the error frequencies.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This Application claims priority of Taiwan Patent Application No. 100146406, filed on Dec. 15, 2011, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The invention relates to analog-to-digital converters, and more particularly to testing of analog-to-digital converters.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]Analog-to-digital converters convert analog signals to digital signals. Because a digital signal processor can only receive a digital signal as an input, an analog-to-digital converter is often used to convert an analog signal to a digital signal for input of the digital signal processor. If the analog-to-digital signal is poor, errors are induced in the input signal of the digital signal processor, and performance of the digital signal processor is degraded. The evaluation of the performance of analog-to-digital converters is therefore important to weed out...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention provides a way to check the accuracy of an analog-to-digital converter. It uses a device called a testing apparatus that receives bit signals from the converter and calculates the frequencies of the bits. These frequencies are then compared with ideal frequencies to find errors. By analyzing these errors and estimating the performance of the converter, the testing apparatus can help ensure that the converter is functioning correctly.

Problems solved by technology

If the analog-to-digital signal is poor, errors are induced in the input signal of the digital signal processor, and performance of the digital signal processor is degraded.

The testing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1, however, has a high manufacturing cost and a complicated circuit design.

First, to store the decimal values generated by the decimal converter 110, the histogram generator 120 must comprise a memory with a large memory space which increases the hardware cost of the testing apparatus 100.

In addition, the histogram generator 120 and the performance analyzer 130 need complicated circuits to implement complex calculations, and this increases the hardware cost of the testing apparatus 100.

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